Volunteer Opportunities at Tacoma Freedom Fair

2016 will be an exciting year for all of us as we celebrate the independence of our country. A whole list of new volunteer opportunities is available for that celebration. Some of these are committee positions starting right away and working up to the event. Others are “day of event” positions, with shifts varied depending on the activities. Please indicate the times you are available so we can make the best assignment for you.

Planning Committees:

Marketing & Publicity – Getting the word out to media and the public.

Volunteers - Help recruit the volunteers needed to make the event(s) a success!

Fundraising/Sponsorship – Help develop donations and sponsorships needed to make the event(s) possible

Sponsorship Fulfillment – Assist in identifying agreements made with sponsors, and ensuring that all sponsorship benefits are activated and available as agreed upon.

Hospitality - Before the event, coordinate all benefits offered to event sponsors, to include mailing out VIP invitations, arranging for event catering, and ensuring sponsors logos, etc, are published in all appropriate locations.

Event Committee: Gig Harbor Wings and Wheels

Day of Event Teams:

Access Control Team - Responsible for checking credentials at sites that require an invitation, badge or other credentials for admittance.

Action Team – These are the movers and shakers of Freedom Fair! Action team members assist festival staff in the set-up of all equipment, signs, banners, and other resources before the event starts. During the event, team members maintain the venue, and after the event, return all equipment and resources to their proper locations.

Admissions Team – Greet all visitors to the festival and show them where to deposit their voluntary admission fee.

Hospitality Team – During the event, greet guests as they arrive for the reception, checking their names off the guest list, or adding their information to the guest list. Host VIP/Sponsors at the Reception on Les Davis Pier, answering questions and directing them to other event activities. Maintain reception area, replenishing food/beverages as necessary, keep the area clean. After fireworks, gather and remove trash and help remove equipment from pier for pick-up.

Information Booth - Assist the general public and festival participants by staffing an information booth and answering questions about the event and providing directions. In some cases, you may be asked to manage the sales of event merchandise.

Miscellaneous - For the truly adventurous, allow us to place you.

Morning-After Clean-up Team - This group walks the waterfront and Old Town area to pick-up litter and return the waterfront to the community in a condition better that we found it. Help with any left over tear down projects and returning things to where we got them.

Office Help - At times during the year we will need administrative assistance with data entry, mailings, filing. Answer the telephone in the event office and deal with questions asked by the general public and vendors as needed. Run errands as needed.

Security Team - Under the supervision of the Safety Director, Security Staff will aid in crowd control, answer questions, assist the audience and control access to parking areas.

Technical Support - Assist the event staff with technical assignments as needed, including, but not limited to: computers, audiovisual, communications, vehicles, etc. (Please let us know about any special skills you have that may be helpful to the event.)

Vendor Management Team - Responsibilities include greeting vendors as they arrive at the festival and directing them to their assigned booth location, and assisting the vendors to speed the unloading process. Part of the job is getting the vendors to move their vehicles to the assigned parking area a soon as they unload so other vendors scheduled to arrive later will have room to unload. We need people to provide a high level of customer service for the vendors by maintaining contact with them from set-up to tear down. They appreciate having someone to keep an eye on their stuff when they move their cars, get something to eat or leave to use the rest room. Vendor Management volunteers will provide instructions and supervision to ensure rules are followed. At the end of the day the vendor management team will help the non-food vendors move merchandise to their cars because they will not be able to pull vehicles onto the street and into the crowd. Volunteers will also need help collect report of sales forms and make sure vendors do not leave boxes or litter in their booth area as they clear out.

Volunteer Center - Greet the volunteers and sign them in. Help direct the volunteers to their job assignment and answer questions. Help make them feel welcome and appreciated.

Zone Managers - Zone Managers oversee and supervise all event activities in designated areas. This includes maintaining the security of the area, looking out for the safety of the audience, supervising volunteers, keeping the area clean and ensuring that signs and banners are posted correctly. Zone managers help direct vendors to the correct setup location and cars to the correct parking areas. They also assist performers and other participants in getting to the correct area and supervise the setup of booths, exhibits, or other activities scheduled in the assigned zone. Look for and report problems to the command center.

Year-round Volunteer Opportunities:

The Tacoma Events Commission produces four events a year: Freedom Fair on July 4, Orting Pumpkin Fest in October, and Gray Sky Blues Music Festival in April. Our volunteer requirements are similar for all events; if you are interested in being a crucial member of our volunteer team for other events, please get in touch!

We also have on-going volunteer opportunities throughout the year, including administrative/office help, logistics team (help us maintain our equipment and facilities), and planning committees. If you would like to learn more about these on-going opportunities, contact us at
today!

For more information on volunteering, click on one of the links below: